Jefferies’ Cheap Hit Lifts Phils In 10th

National League

After smashing two balls that went for rally-killing outs, Gregg Jefferies nubbed one that scored the game-winning run in Philadelphia’s 8-7, 10-inning victory Sunday over the San Francisco Giants in Philadelphia.

“When you feel like you put two good swings and hit the ball hard and you leave two guys out there and you’re losing, that’s very frustrating,” Jefferies said. “Then you hit a big chopper like I did and luck out. For the people who say things even out, maybe this is one day where it did.”

Jefferies’ high-chop single with the bases loaded and no outs in the 10th was good enough to bring home Kevin Flora with the run that gave the Phillies a sweep of their three-game series with the Giants.

Philadelphia came back to win all three games, much to the delight of manager Jim Fregosi, trying desperately to keep the Phillies in the race for the wild-card berth in the National League playoffs.

Braves 1, Cardinals 0

St. Louis

After a brief detour, Greg Maddux returned to Cy Young form with a two-hitter as Atlanta beat St. Louis in 1 hour, 50 minutes, the fastest game in the major leagues this season.

Mets 5, Dodgers 3

New York

Jose Vizcaino and Carl Everett became the first major leaguers to hit consecutive home runs off Hideo Nomo, leading last-place New York past first-place Los Angeles for a three-game sweep.

Padres 3, Expos 0

Montreal

Willie Blair struck out a career-high nine and Scott Livingstone homered and knocked in two runs as streaking San Diego beat Montreal.

Pirates 3, Marlins 2

Pittsburgh

Kevin Young hit his third homer in as many games and had three RBIs to lead Pittsburgh to their fourth consecutive win over Florida.

Reds 11, Astros 4

Cincinnati

Ron Gant hit a grand slam and four Cincinnati players had three hits apiece as the Reds added an exclamation point to their seasonlong domination of Houston, winning all 10 games this season against the Astros.

Rockies 4, Cubs 2

Denver

Vinny Castilla hit a two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Colorado to the win over Chicago.

Clearing the bases

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda, 69, under increasing discomfort from bad knees and tiring of pain-killing pills that leave him drowsy, said he has decided to have replacement surgery on both knees after the season… . The Mets swept a three-game series at home for the first time this year. Their only other sweep came Aug. 8-10 at Philadelphia… . Chicago’s Sammy Sosa has hit home runs in four straight games.